Last year, James Howard Jackson shot and severely wounded Lady Gaga’s dog walker, resulting in the dogs being robbed.
Since then, Jackson took a plea which resulted in serious jail time.
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Now, Gaga is a music icon.
Born, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, she has made a name for herself as an award-winning artist.
Gaga started out as a teen, where she often sang at open mic nights to gain experience on stage.
She later went on to pursue music professionally at the Collaborative Arts Project 21, through Tisch School of the Arts, however, she soon dropped out.
After leaving the academic world behind, Gaga made it her mission to pursue her music career on her own.
But hit a roadblock after Def Jam Recordings canceled her contract.
Shortly after, she became a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing…
And in 2007, she signed a joint deal with Interscope Records and KonLive Distribution.
Just a year later, Gaga was thrust into the spotlight after releasing her debut studio album, The Fame…
It featured the chart-topping singles ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Poker Face’.
The album was later reissued to include the EP The Fame Monster (2009), including the singles ‘Bad Romance’, ‘Telephone’, and ‘Alejandro’.
Her unique sound, combining electronic rock and techno-pop, as well as her eccentric style, quickly gained her a large following.
And her second full-length album, Born This Way (2011) went on to sell more than one million copies in its first week.
Now that’s impressive.
But her unprecedented success has had its ups and downs.
And according to a former personal assistant, working for the superstar doesn’t appear to be all it’s cracked up to be.
Lady Gaga’s former PA has claimed that she is owed thousands in unpaid overtime.
Jennifer O’Neill revealed in court depositions back in 2012 that she even had to sleep with her boss during the Monster’s Ball tour in 2010.
“I was by her side virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” O’Neill said. “That includes sleeping in the same bed with her. Because she did not sleep alone.”
O’Neill shared that she “felt it was” a requirement for her to sleep in the same bed as the star.
And added that she was the only member of Gaga’s team that wasn’t given her own room.
“Unlike anybody else on that tour, I did not have my own hotel room. I was not asked if I wanted my own hotel room,” she said.
“I had no privacy, no chance to talk to any family, no chance to talk to any friends, no chance to have s*x if I wanted to have s*x. There was no chance to do anything.”
In the documents, obtained by the New York Post, O’Neill doesn’t state whether her relationship with Gaga during the time was of a s*xual nature.
But she claimed that she spent every waking moment by her side, and was not allowed any breaks.
“She was quite irate that she couldn’t reach me on my phone a couple of times, and was quite angry and asked me why she was paying for this hotel room if I was unreachable,” she said in the deposition.
O’Neill also recalled one time when Gaga made several demands while she was trying to have her hair cut.
“She might have said I need some tea, I need — can you get my computer for me, can you get my phone, my battery is dead, I need a tampon, the toilet doesn’t flush,” O’Neill said.
“Another thing she would do in the middle of the night would be wake me up to have me change the DVD in the DVD player because she didn’t want to watch that DVD any more and she couldn’t get up to walk across the room to change the DVD herself.”
However, after hearing what O’Neill had to say, Gaga spat back.
Gaga tweeted a response at the time on her Twitter account.
In the post, she claimed that O’Neill was one of her close friends, not just her personal assistant.
“Everyone’s headlines need an updating. ‘former assistant’ is actually ‘my best friend from NY since I was 19.’ Painful stuff,” she wrote.
O’Neill took legal action against the singer in 2012, alleging she was overworked and underpaid during her time as a PA.
She worked alongside the star for thirteen months, including on her Monster Ball world tour.
According to the court documents, she alleges that she is owed 7,168 hours of unpaid overtime totaling a whopping $380,000.
She revealed she had to work at all hours to meet the needs of the singer.
And ensure “the promptness of a towel following a shower and serving as a personal alarm clock to keep [Gaga] on schedule.”
She claims she wasn’t given breaks to eat “or, at times, even sleep.”
And was required to work at the “earliest waking hour” or for “spontaneous, random matters in the middle of the night.”
O’Neill was paid $75,000-a-year for the role, which she feels was far too little for what she had to do.
She filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against the superstar’s Mermaid Touring company.
Gaga went on to dismiss her lawsuit in a videotaped disposition.
She said: “[Jennifer is a] f***ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn’t earn.
“She thinks she’s just like the queen of the universe. And, you know what, she didn’t want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I’m the queen of the universe every day.
“She knew there was no overtime, and I never paid her overtime the first time I hired her, so why would she be paid overtime the second time? This whole case is bullsh*t and you know it.”
More recently, Gaga’s become the center of attention following an incident that took place last year where her dog walker was seriously wounded following a robbery of her dogs.
The incident took place near the famed Sunset Boulevard.
The thieves have since appeared in court.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, James Howard Jackson, who was only 1 of 3 men and 2 accomplices that took part in the violent act of crime, had pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder.
Jackson and the others involved were around the city of West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley in February last year “looking for French bulldogs” a prosecutor said.
As they patrolled the area, they found Ryan Fischer (Gaga’s dog walker) and attempted the robbery.
As the scene unfold, Jackson was seen opening fire at Fischer.
And in the end, Gaga’s dogs were taken.
However, a footage of the incident was caught by a nearby camera doorbell where Fischer could be heard screaming, “Oh, my God! I’ve been shot!” and “Help me!” and “I’m bleeding out from my chest!”
After the incident, Fischer wrote in a social media post that the violent robbery was a “very close call with death.”
The dogs were safely returned to Gaga several days later by Jennifer McBride.
Jackson also admitted to the allegation of inflicting great bodily injury and to a prior strike, the DA’s office said Monday.
“The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson accountable for perpetrating a coldhearted violent act and provides justice for our victim,” the office said in a statement.
Jackson’s other accomplice, Harold White, pleaded no contest on Monday to a count of ex-convicts in possession of a gun.
Jackson was handed down a twenty-one-year prison sentence.
As for White, he will be sentenced next year.